filmlover

Depends on the type of horror movie though (although plenty of the starrier ones tend to also fall into the "old school thriller" gray area). Feel like the decision to make the vampire girl a ballerina made it look like a wannabe M3GAN to some heh.

I think Abigail looks like a blast, but honestly, I still think this was the kind of horror movie that needed an actual "name" actor to headline it in order to give it a profile boost because it didn't have much going for it from a marketing perspective beyond the "ballerina vampire child attacks kidnappers" concept. People like Barrera or Stevens (nobody is seeing Godzilla x Kong for him) were never going to move the needle much. As such it's looking like it's going to end up making similar numbers to what Radio Silence's previous non-Scream entry (2019's Ready or Not) did.

I do agree and think the overreliance on the Barbenheimer connection isn't doing much for this. Real "last year called, it wants its meme back" energy, especially now that the movie year of 2023 is well into the rearview mirror over a month after the Oscars ended.

I imagine if Sony buys Paramount we'll be seeing a lot of licensing for not only their stuff but also (Paramount+ with) Showtime's originals. They just announced the other week that the standalone app for the latter is being shut down.

Smile 2 should do well in October as well, even if it doesn't make as much as the first.

Perhaps it's an "all in his head" twist. That would probably be too obvious though.

These posters are obviously meant to be taken as a joke.

Doubt it since Universal's already putting out Wicked (which will be heavily targeting family crowds as its main demo) that month. They could always go for 10/18 as well since all that has at the moment is the Smile sequel.

9/27 is still pretty empty, they can just move back a week. Doubt anyone goes head-to-head against Joker on 10/4 though, even as potential counterprogramming.

This looks extremely goofy (feel like the trailer gives away too much at first, though it's reasonable to assume the revelation that Hartnett is the killer is early in the movie instead of a third act twist) but the concept is fairly unique. I'll see it.

It's still really strange how no one has moved anything up to early November after Venom pivoted dates while we have Gladiator 2/Moana 2/Wicked crowded in that pre-Thanksgiving through holiday weekend frame. Those movies must be worried that they won't be around to enjoy the Christmas through New Year's stretch since everything released pre-Thanksgiving tends to be a goner by the time the avalanche of releases that usually fight for screen space over the Christmas frame arrive.

Now going head-to-head against Wild Robot after being pushed back a week so I assume the latter is moving.

that random double feature re-issue that was clearly meant to push MIB2 past $200M (and didn't succeed). That was still in 2002 though.

I think IF looks cute? And Paramount's been marketing it quite aggressively, so maybe they think (or know) they have a winner on their hands. I could see it having a Wonder-esque run if the reviews/WOM end up positive.

It seems reasonable to believe The Kents don't play that big of a role if their casting is being announced well into filming + the actors being of the lower-profile variety (as opposed to certified A-listers like Costner and Lane).

I mean, he is, but his individual drawing power itself has always been iffy. La La Land was a smash obviously, but that was in the midst of The Nice Guys, Blade Runner 2049, and First Man all made less than what was expected from them. I'm not counting Barbie (or obvious ensemble films like The Big Short, for that matter) cause that was obviously its own phenomenon that will be impossible for even the inevitable sequel to duplicate lol.

Boy Kills World is another movie where if the filmmakers had expected it to be a hit, they wouldn't have released it with that un-marquee-friendly title. I had to look up and see if it was based on a graphic novel or something, and lo and behold, I guess it is (a very obscure one, apparently).

Yeah, I love both Gosling and Blunt as much as the next person, but calling them the "biggest stars on the planet" is definitely...stretching it. I've actually seen a lot of ads for The Fall Guy in recent weeks, but whether they'll be effective in getting people to buy tickets is remains to be seen. I think expectations on this might've gotten a little carried away after the release date upgrade (which I assume wouldn't have occurred had the strike not impacted the schedule) + inflated expectations from Barbenheimer.

Probably became a casualty of the talent becoming too busy to immediately film them + COVID striking less than two years later. At this point any sequels would likely see a big dive in grosses now that the books are no longer as popular as they were six years ago.

If this movie has a Nordberg equivalent I hope they cast another former NFL player. Gotta keep a tradition going!

Variety projections: Abigail: $12-15M The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare/Spy x Family Code: White: $5-6M ($8M from rivals) Box Office: 'Abigail' to Take on 'Civil War' With $12 Million Debut (variety.com)

I just noticed via its lifetime total on The Numbers that this actually was the first time Spider-Man has been officially re-released in theaters since it original 2002 run. Kind of crazy for such a landmark and influential blockbuster. If the rest of the movies do even better (I've noticed theaters have already opened up additional shows for 2 next week) Sony will certainly bring this back leading up to the release of the next Tom Holland movie, hopefully as more than a one night thing.